“Kyrie wants you to believe he’s the smartest guy in the room”: NBA analyst reacts to Kyrie Irving’s fiery press conference after controversial tweet
Kyrie Irving has made some interesting comments throughout the past few months. The Brooklyn Nets guard on Thursday shared a link to an antisemitic movie on his social media platform.
The comments were not taken lightly. The Nets and the NBA on Saturday issued statements condemning "hate speech." Irving was not suspended or punished, although Nets coach Steve Nash said "the organization has spoken to Kyrie about it."
“Kyrie wants you to believe he’s the smartest guy in the room,” analyst Shannon Sharpe said.
.@ShannonSharpe reacts to Kyrie Irving's controversial comments on social media:
“Kyrie wants you to believe he’s the smartest guy in the room.” https://t.co/7KIFrsz3Rs
Kyrie Irving's social media post on Thursday
Irving on Saturday said that he doesn't support hate speech and that he embraces all religions, but he defended his right to post what he wants.
Kyrie shared the following on Twitter:
“I am an OMNIST and I meant no disrespect to anyone’s religious beliefs. The ‘Anti-Semitic’ label that is being pushed on me is not justified and does not reflect the reality or truth I live in everyday. I embrace and want to learn from all walks of life and religions.”
It's truly unfortunate that Kyrie Irving has taken the route he has. It's never a bad thing to speak your mind, but there's also a point where these comments are unnecessary. The things that he says need to hold weight because of the fanbase he has.
If Kyrie Irving can just focus on basketball and do what he does best, he's one of the best in basketball. The past few years haven't been kind to him, and he's the reason that's the case. He still has an opportunity to turn everything he's done around, but he simply needs to make better decisions.
No matter anyone’s thoughts on COVID vaccines, politics or anything else, saying racist, antisemitic and other things to that nature is never the right thing to do.
If Kyrie Irving tweets these types of things, his fanbase might start believing the same things that he's tweeting. The movie is outrageous, and Kyrie needs to be better in the future.
Owner Joe Tsai of the Brooklyn Nets said he doesn't condone these types of comments from Irving, so let's see if anything happens in the future.
Tsai had the following to say:
“I’m disappointed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of anti-semitic disinformation. I want to sit down and make sure he understands this is hurtful to all of us, and as a man of faith, it is wrong to promote hate based on race, ethnicity or religion.”
"This is bigger than basketball.”
Irving is averaging 30.5 points, 4.7 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game. His production on the court has once again been elite this season. For the Brooklyn Nets and basketball fans, hopefully he can focus on basketball all season.
Kyrie must learn from these comments and realize the magnitude of these comments as he tries to learn that he didn't say the right thing. These are serious comments and need to be treated as such.